M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The death of John the Baptist
14 At that time Herod the Tetrarch heard reports about Jesus.
2 “This fellow must be John the Baptist,” he said to his servants. “He’s been raised from the dead! That’s why these powers are at work in him.”
3 This is what had happened. Herod had seized John, tied him up and put him in prison because of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. 4 John had been telling him that it wasn’t right for him to have her. 5 Herod wanted to kill him, but he was afraid of the crowd, because they reckoned that John was a prophet.
6 When Herod’s birthday came around, the daughter of Herodias danced for the assembled company, and delighted Herod. 7 So he swore a great oath that he would give her whatever she requested. 8 Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me—here, on a platter—the head of John the Baptizer!” 9 The king was sorry; but because of his oaths, and his guests, he gave orders for it to be given to her. 10 He sent to the prison and had John beheaded. 11 His head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she passed it on to her mother. 12 His disciples came and took away the body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.
The feeding of the five thousand
13 When Jesus heard it, he went away from there in a boat to a deserted spot by himself. The crowds heard about it, and they followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When he came out and saw the large crowd, he was sorry for them. He healed their sick.
15 When it was evening, the disciples came to him.
“This is a deserted spot,” they said, “and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away so that they can go into the villages and buy food for themselves.”
16 “They don’t need to go away,” said Jesus. “You give them something to eat.”
17 “All we have here,” they said, “is five loaves of bread and two fish.”
18 “Bring them here to me,” he said.
19 He told the crowds to sit down on the grass. Then he took the five loaves and the two fish and looked up to heaven. He blessed the loaves, broke them, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 20 Everybody ate and was satisfied, and they picked up twelve baskets full of broken pieces. 21 There were about five thousand men who had eaten, besides women and children.
22 Jesus at once made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the opposite shore, while he dismissed the crowds.
Jesus walks on water
23 After he had sent the crowds away, Jesus went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came he was there by himself. 24 The boat had already gone some distance from the shore and was being smashed around by the waves, since the wind was against it.
25 At the very dead of night he came towards them, walking on the water. 26 The disciples saw him walking on the sea and panicked. “It’s a ghost!” they said, and they screamed in terror. 27 But Jesus at once spoke to them.
“Cheer up,” he said, “it’s me! Don’t be frightened!”
28 “If it’s really you, Master,” said Peter in reply, “give me the word to come to you on the water.”
29 “Come along, then,” said Jesus.
Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came towards Jesus. 30 But when he saw the strong wind he was afraid, and began to sink.
“Master,” he yelled, “rescue me!”
31 Jesus at once reached out his hand and caught him.
“A fine lot of faith you’ve got!” he said. “Why did you doubt?”
32 They got into the boat, and the wind died down. 33 The people in the boat worshiped him.
“You really are God’s son!” they said.
34 So they crossed over to the land called Gennesaret. 35 The men of that region recognized him and sent word to all the surrounding district. They brought all their sick people to him, 36 and begged him to be allowed simply to touch the hem of his clothes. And everyone who touched it was cured.
Iconium
14 What happened in Iconium was much the same. They went into the Jewish synagogue and spoke, with the result that a large crowd, of both Jews and Greeks, came to faith. 2 But the unbelieving Jews stirred up and poisoned the minds of the Gentiles against the brothers. 3 They stayed there a long time, speaking boldly on behalf of the Lord, who bore them witness to the word of his grace by giving signs and wonders which were done at their hands.
4 But the inhabitants of the city were divided. Some were with the Jews, and some with the apostles. 5 But then the Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, made an attempt to ill-treat them and stone them. 6 They got wind of it, however, and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding countryside. 7 There they went on announcing the good news.
Confusion in Lystra
8 There was a man sitting in Lystra who was unable to use his feet. He had been lame from his mother’s womb, and had never walked. 9 He heard Paul speaking. When Paul looked hard at him, and saw that he had faith to be made well, 10 he said with a loud voice, “Stand up straight on your feet!”
Up he jumped, and walked about.
11 When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted loudly in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!”
12 They called Barnabas “Zeus,” and Paul, because he was the main speaker, “Hermes.” 13 The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought oxen and garlands to the city gates. There was a crowd with him, and he was all ready to offer sacrifice.
14 But when the apostles, Paul and Barnabas, heard of it, they tore their clothes and rushed into the crowd.
15 “Men, men,” they shouted, “what on earth are you doing? We are just ordinary humans, with the same nature as you, and we are bringing you the wonderful message that you should turn away from these foolish things to the living God, the one who made heaven and earth and the sea and everything in them. 16 In earlier generations he allowed all the nations to go their own ways, 17 but even then he didn’t leave himself without witness. He has done you good, giving you rain from heaven and times of fruitfulness, filling your bodies with food and your hearts with gladness.”
18 Even by saying this, they only just restrained the crowds from offering them sacrifice. 19 But some Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium, and persuaded the crowds to stone Paul. They dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead. 20 The disciples gathered round him, however, and he got up and went into the city. The next day he and Barnabas went off to Derbe.
Opening the door of faith
21 They preached in Derbe, and made many disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, 22 strengthening the hearts of the disciples, and urging them to remain in the faith. They warned them that getting into God’s kingdom would mean going through considerable suffering. 23 In every church they appointed elders by laying hands on them. They fasted, prayed, and commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.
24 They went through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia; 25 and when they had spoken the word in Perga they went down to Attalia. 26 From there they sailed to Antioch, which was where they had been commended to God’s grace for the work which they had accomplished. 27 Once there, they called the church together, and told them all the things which God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith for the Gentiles. 28 They stayed there a long time with the disciples.
Scripture quotations from The New Testament for Everyone are copyright © Nicholas Thomas Wright 2011, 2018, 2019.